The first settlers on the eastern seaboard were from
England. Although others followed particularly from France, Germany, and
Scandinavia, the English prevailed in language, custom, and architecture.

The first residential buildings were Medieval
in style because that is all the settlers knew. Houses in England, since
at least the 13th century had been timber framed, because there was an
abundance of oak. The timber frame was made from halved, or cleft, timbers
rather than complete logs. The gaps between timbers were infilled with
panels, saplings woven into flat mats and covered in clay, called "wattle
and dob." Roofs were made of thatch. Colonist brought this method
to America: a timber frame with a skin made of local materials, in New
England, wood, and in Virginia, brick.

The first basic house, in the 1600s, was a one story
two room (hall and parlor) house with a central chimney. This evolved into
a two story, four room building. By 1700, the salt-box evolved with a shed-like
addition on the back. By 1740, the shed had become a full story, or a four-on-four
room house. This, with a central hall with stair case, is the basic plan
outline. The standard Colonial design, with
a symmetrical front -- with a central door and two windows on either side,
and five windows across the second floor -- remains the most popular
architectural plan in the United States today. It traveled west with the
pioneers.

In New England, there was usually one chimney in the
middle. In Virginia and the Southern colonies, there were often two chimneys
-- one at either end of the house -- to direct the heat outwards. Today,
a standard Colonial design has one chimney located conveniently to provide
for the hearth in the living room and the furnace beneath it in the basement.

As settlers had began to think about aesthetics over
basic shelter, and their houses were evolving from one and two room shelters,
they looked to England for new ideas. England was ablaze with exciting
architectural development. London had burned in 1666, and Christopher
Wren was instrumental in its rebuilding. The style he and his predecessor,
Indigo Jones, introduced is now called Baroque.

Wren was greatly influenced by the work of Andrea
Palladio (1508-1580), unquestionably the most influential architect
of the Renaissance and perhaps the first architect in the modern sense
in that he devoted himself entirely to architecture and not the other arts
as did Michelangelo. He built palaces, churches, public works such as bridges,
and many country villas throughout Vicenza in Italy. He also published
his work in I Quattro Libri dellíArchitectura, which was published
and available by 1680 to those rebuilding London.

Christopher Wren, James
Gibbs, and Robert Adamhad a tremendous
influence on architecture in the thirteen colonies. They were developing
architectural theories based not only on Palladio, but also on the new
discovery of Roman and eventually Greek ruins. They espoused ideas of geometry,
relationship, and proportions in architecture.

From 1700 to 1776, when the colonists on the eastern
seaboard were establishing a civil society, the architectural life in England
was vibrant, and the excitement crossed the ocean. Builders in America
had access to books describing this new architecture, and they used them.

Dutch Colonial

The Dutch influence on American
colonial architecture can be found in New York City and surrounding areas
in New Jersey, on Long Island and along the Hudson River.

French Colonial

In the Louisana territory, houses were built in the
French style. Surviving structures can be best
seen in New Orleans and in rural Louisiana along the Mississippi River.
The plantation houses are timber framed structures feasturing tall and
steeply pitched hipped roofs characteristic of rural French manor houses.
They are adapted to the sub-tropical Louisiana in two ways: the main living
area, built of heavy interlocked timbers, was built on a very tall brick
foundation to protect the house from the periodical river flooding; and,
the houses were usually surrounded by wide porches, or galeries, to provide
refreshingly cool yet sheltered outdoor living during the summer months.
Characteristic are extensive porches and no halls. They are graced with
French doors from every room to the porch.

Spanish Colonial

Florida and the Southwest offered few of the riches
to the Spanish Empire as Mexico and Peru and were sparsely settled by missionaries
and military men to serve as buffers to French and English expansion. However,
by the time settlers arrived in Virginia and Massachusetts in the early
1600s, the Spanish Empire had been thriving for more than a century. Today
few buildings from this era survive, except for the mission chapels in
California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Most colonial houses were modest
structures of adobe and stone. The Governors palaces in Santa Fe, New Mexico
and San Antonio, Texas, however, offer brief glimpses into the original
Spanish colonial architecture.